It’s All Fun & Games Until Somebody Breaks a Rule

The works in this programme demonstrate the humour that often arises when we play together – and when we don’t abide by the rules. From spontaneous encounters with people in the streets, to shopping excursions across a board game supermarket; from frantic relays staged in the education system, to dinosaur skirmishes set in prehistoric 1917, the films presented here indulge in the fun of games and other cooperative/competitive exercises. Playing along with these exercises can be a source of amusement as well as social insight. And sometimes we’re reminded that one person’s beach is another person’s hell.

1) UR Lucky 1983 / super 8 / sound / 2 min. 30 sec.
I placed a medallion on the sidewalk and filmed whoever happened along to pick it up. The film is about not being able to have control over the event, and the acceptance of this fact.

2) Snow Search 1985 / super 8 / sound / 3 min.
Four performers search for each other, each carrying one quarter of a photographic portrait of Michael Snow. A lyrical exploration through the city and an homage to Michael Snow.

3) Making a Scene 1984 / super 8 / sound / 4 min.
Offers passersby the opportunity to don a mask and become either an elephant or a mosquito. A look at people’s inhibitions.

Stanley Sunday a.k.a. David Domingo a.k.a. Davidson Disney Attraction Highlights Nº 1 2009 / super 8 / sound / 5 min.
A Movie that Portrays the Wonders of the World as Seen Through the Eyes of a Cat.

Ericka Beckman The Broken Rule 1979 / super 8 / sound / 25 min.
“My film pictures learning blocks as relay races conducted by male players, where the girls are scores, and the goal is to enter the working world by the end of the game. Mike Kelley, the lead player in my film, makes a ritual out of his mistakes to escape the consequences of his mistakes.” One part of Beckman’s Super 8 Trilogy (1978-80).